Bubble
Danger, emotion, drinking in post-apocalypse anime tale.
Bubble
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Bubble is an anime film about a group of young people who were orphaned and left in a collapsed city by a catastrophic event. They put themselves in danger regularly, participating in intense parkour competitions and often falling from heights and risking sinking in the ocean or what are known as watery "ant-lion" pits. They also drink beer, swear ("damn," "hell," "crap," "bastard," and other insults in English-language subtitles), and make at least one reference to "inappropriate" touching (there's also flirting and two kisses). Nobody dies in the parkour competitions, but one character has a prosthetic leg from an accident, one nearly drowns, and another is kidnapped and held high up on a crane-like structure. A non-human character puts her hand in hot oil, but it causes no burns; in an emotional scene, her body slowly disappears piece by piece as she drops her human form. The film suggests that history's patterns of destruction and restoration are cyclical, that humans can love like no other beings, and that women and people with certain disabilities can be capable of great physical and intellectual feats.
Community Reviews
Report this review
Report this review
What's the Story?
BUBBLE turns on a group of young people who lost their families in a catastrophic event five years earlier called the Bubble Fall. Now they live as a makeshift family on a converted coast guard boat and participate in parkour competitions with other similar groups. Their star athlete is Hibiki, a loner with other-worldly parkour abilities. One day when Hibiki falls into the water that has flooded Tokyo since the Bubble Fall, a mysterious figure saves him. Hibiki takes her home and the group adopts her and names her Uta. Uta can't speak and doesn't seem to know basic things, but she and Hibiki connect on a deep level. When Tokyo is threatened with a second Bubble Fall, the group must make sacrifices to save themselves.
Is It Any Good?
This anime film has an emotional story of human connection at its core that helps keep it interesting beyond the nonstop action, some intentionally grating characters, and an apocalyptic setting. Bubble's animators have created a disturbing world where buildings have collapsed, Tokyo has flooded, and random structures float in the air. It's the perfect setting for the orphaned misfits to practice their parkour. Their feats are deliberately far-fetched, and the mutual taunting gets tiresome, but it's nonetheless exciting to watch them leap and twirl in the air. The bubbles are also almost hypnotic in their mysterious beauty.
The traits that make Hibiki unique among his peers are unveiled slowly as his relationship with the enigmatic Uta deepens. The connection between these two special characters is heightened with scenes played in slow motion and long pauses where they stare into each other's spherical eyes, effectively building up to an emotional scene of Uta's disappearance. Viewers can find messages about climate change, war, planetary catastrophes, and eventual renewal, though the archive images spliced in to try to hit these messages home weren't necessary.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the idea put forth in Bubble that "the world cycles through destruction and restoration." How do you interpret this idea? What did the images accompanying the discussion in the film suggest this meant?
Why are spirals so important to Uta? What is Fibonacci's spiral? Where could you find more information?
How did Hibiki's auditory sensitivity shape his life? What did it mean to him to be so sensitive to noise in a big city like Tokyo, and why was Tokyo after the Bubble Fall in some ways an easier place for him to exist?
How does Uta's story offer a new take on the tale of The Little Mermaid?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: April 28, 2022
- Cast: Tasuku Hatanaka, Alice Hirose, Marina Inoue
- Director: Tetsurô Araki
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More, Sports and Martial Arts, Adventures, Friendship
- Run time: 100 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
Our Editors Recommend
-
Spirited Away
Magnificent movie with scary creatures and a strong heroine.
-
Ride Your Wave
Beautiful anime is too sad for young or sensitive kids.
-
The Little Mermaid
Superb, entertaining animated musical has some scary stuff.
-
Ponyo
Miyazaki's stunning adventure is geared to younger kids.
-
Howl's Moving Castle
Charming Miyazaki fairy tale with surreal villains.
For kids who love anime
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate